Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS): Facts You Didn't Know

 Nevertheless, last years were the time of permanent development and evolution of communication software, which means CCaaS isn’t the only option available by far - as well as its predecessor, on-premises contact center software was one day. Digital transformation brought us to another level of secure communications with cloud-delivered unified communications model that allows online meetings, video meetings, internal communications, collaboration services, file sharing, and suite of features and communication tools that go far beyond what contact center services looked like years before. 

You have definitely met such solutions as UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service), and also CPaaS (Communication Platform as a Service), and we can bet there was a question in your mind: “What are these solutions about? What makes these unified platforms different from cloud contact center software?”. Well, you’re not the only one who has such concerns - and we are here to deal with it.

So, what is Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) software? How does UCaaS work? What are cloud UCaaS key features? And finally, what makes cloud UCaaS special compared to other options? How to choose an appropriate unified communications solution?

Let’s find out all about these communications systems and their essential features once and forever.

What is Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) software?

Cloud UCaaS - what is it? In short, Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) is a communication platform that gathers different types of communication channels in itself with advanced features dedicated to enhancing collaboration and communication between employees and departments. Thus, Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) is a solution that has its purpose of improving customer-brand communications with an increase in customer satisfaction, customer retention, and positive customer experience and user experiences. The same it works with employee experience - such subscription-based services are much more advanced than old fashioned business phones, which makes communications features easier to use and provide team collaborations, including options for mobile workers who have high-speed Internet connection. 

The term Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) refers to the capabilities of the UCaaS software that allow customer service representatives to service customer queries from different contact channels by using only this one platform without a need to switch between various tools and interfaces, which also means faster customer issues resolution and tailored customer experience with a high level of customer service.

Such solutions always have collaboration applications, high security standards, wide communications function, customer relationship management features, feature updates, cloud delivery model, and thus, lower operating costs. 

How does Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) software work?

To put it simply, Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) software works as any other cloud communication platform, for instance, as CCaaS does. This means that the solution is built on cloud architecture and provided through the SaaS (Software as a Service) model, as other cloud customer service solutions for external communications.

This means that you don’t have to pick up any hardware (excluding desk phones, headphones, etc.) to get your cloud unified communications platform (UCaaS) running, you just have to choose the most appropriate option, discuss technical specifications with the vendor, and wait until the solution is configured and set up in accordance with you business requirements, and you are all set - you can just download the software on work stations (PCs of your employees), log them into their UCaaS accounts and start using cloud-based services - this saves a lot of time compared to on-premises (on-site) solutions which require infrastructure setup on your facilities, which also increases set up costs and operational costs during first months of implementation. The main goal of UCaaS business applications is to optimize business operations and business processes.

Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) can be provided through three different models.

1. Single-tenant UCaaS model. This is the situation where the UCaaS software is significantly customized and adapted for each customer, and also this option provides almost total control over the data flows, features, integrations and internal policies to the customer, which means it is quite similar to on-premises solutions in terms of data control. Nevertheless, it remains cloud. Why is this model needed on the market? Well, there are numerous industries that are strongly regulated by law and have high requirements to their internal processes, which requires software providers to adapt to these requirements. Such industries include healthcare, financial services, government institutions and some educational institutions.
2. Multi-tenant UCaaS. To put it shortly, this UCaaS model of software providing means that every customer receives the same software solutions, while management of the infrastructure, internal architecture, and some other processes remain the responsibility of the vendor. This is an acceptable UCaaS solution for most businesses from such industries as e-commerce, retail, manufacturing and so on, but it also limits flexibility and customization options for buyers - even though such solutions can also be customized, for instance, through adding custom integrations. Also, this model allows providers to lower the price and provide updates and new features faster.
3. Hybrid UCaaS model. In this case, the UCaaS provider furnishes an instance of the software in the data center of the customer, or in his network in order to offer the same flexibility and customization options as in the case of single-tenant model with the access to all the features of multi-tenant solution. The client can also decide which data he wants to store on his own facilities, and which data can be processed by the vendor. Hybrid UCaaS model isn’t yet very popular, but it can become so in the near future, especially if we take into consideration how flexible it is and how it can cover the needs of almost any business on the globe.

And what about on-premises solutions? Well, we will come back to this issue later, but let’s agree on the obvious thing - the difference between UCaaS and, for example, CCaaS or any other communication platform that offers multichannel communication capabilities lies more in the field of marketing, than in the field of design or functioning. This means that as the UCaaS is modern solution that has become widely known recently, it just can’t be advertised as on-premises solution - on-site software keeps losing its market share and this is not the best idea to sell on-site solutions while the world is slightly migrating to the cloud. Legacy phone systems can't provide cost savings, and voice communications now don't require traditional communications services - cloud telephony and cloud phone systems have conquered this market segment.

Nevertheless, we don’t say that you can’t find an on-premise UCaaS solution - in some cases, a vendor can provide you with such an option, but the issue of price and availability remains open. UCaaS market is already much bigger than traditional phone systems market share, which means the cloud services will be more tailored to the needs of users - not only in the field of effective management of customer interactions, but also in organizing remote teams, using mobile phone apps, improving cloud-based communications, video calling, sales teams performance, and so on. 

What are the key features of UCaaS (Unified Communication as a Service) system?

Key features of the UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) include:

1. Unified communications - that’s what gifted its name to UCaaS solutions - it's core functionality. Unified communications include different communication channels, such as phone calls processed through VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) technology, which means the calls can be handled only with access to the Internet, text channels, such as email, social media channels, messengers - Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, instant messaging, SMS messaging, and so on, and also self-service channels such as chatbots or IVAs (Intelligent Voice Assistants), or even well-known IVR (Interactive Voice Response) software which is must-have for any call center.
2. Call analytics - even though this UCaaS feature refers us to calls, it covers all analytical features regarding all contact channels you use so you can measure and track such vital metrics, as number of customer requests serviced, number of lost calls, duration of communication, Average Handling Time (AHT), and other customer service rates that are essential to measure if you want to provide high-class service.
3. Call recording and monitoring - these UCaaS features are needed for both quality assessment and legal compliance needs. In first case, you ought to listen to calls of your customer service agents to notice whether they meet service standards or not, or to help them handle difficult customers. In another case, there are legal requirements that make you save call recordings, and this works for many industries.
4. Call queue management - this UCaaS feature is essential if you want customers to be delighted with your service. Call queue management allows you to reduce average wait times in a queue by offering call queue callbacks or providing customers with information about estimated wait times. Also, call queue management provides options to plan workload on contact center agents in order to optimize agent occupancy throughout different agent groups or departments.
5. Call scripts - call scripts in UCaaS allow you to ease the process of onboarding for newbie agents, as well as to help agents always control the call flow and lead the conversation in the right direction.
6. Video conferencing - web conferencing is vital UCaaS for not only sales purposes, where it becomes popular, but also to run webinars for your employees, for appointments, hiring process, and so on. It has to offer screen sharing, as it is vital feature for remote workers and enterprise communications at all. This contact channel is the fastest growing in popularity when it comes to new contact channels, so look for a solution that can offer such a feature.
7. Self-service tools - these UCaaS features include chatbots, and AI-powered chatbots too, IVR and IVA systems. The growing spread of AI (Artificial Intelligence) solutions also influences the self-service technologies, so if you want to be in trend, look for some AI-driven tools.
8. Direct-dial phone numbers - direct-dial numbers (DID) are essential for any company that uses UCaaS, because such phone numbers allow customers to reach out to a certain specialist without having to interact with auto attendant or IVR system. Also, look for an option to purchase local Caller ID phone numbers and toll-free numbers.
9. Collaboration features - some UCaaS vendors even use the term “unified communications and collaboration as a service” for their UCaaS solutions, which refers to collaboration capabilities, such as task management, access control, and so on.
10. Mobile application - many UCaaS service providers even say that the main thing that differentiates UCaaS software from CCaaS solutions is availability of mobile app, but it’s not 100% right. Anyhow, if your UCaaS platform has a mobile application, it is a great option.

Are there any pitfalls of UCaaS systems to take into consideration?

First of all, let’s say the truth as it is - UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) solutions are reliable, as well as any other cloud-based solutions. All customer concerns about cloud-based software, including UCaaS, are mostly caused by myths or just lack of trust to these not-that-old tools, even though cloud UCaaS services are available for a while. Nevertheless, many people still aren’t 100% confident in UCaaS software, even though there are not many arguments to use against it. So, let’s find out what can happen:

1. Security issues - UCaaS systems are cloud solutions, which means in many cases you won’t have total control over UCaaS architecture and infrastructure, as well as over UCaaS data flows. Nevertheless, the UCaaS service provider is responsible for its reliability, your business continuity and stable functioning, as well as for data security, so trust us - UCaaS vendors do their best to reach such a level of security that will eliminate the risk of any issues, as their reputation and prosperity of their business are at stake.
2. Lack of control - this UCaaS issue follows from the previous one, as UCaaS is obviously a cloud solution with all consequences included. Nevertheless, single-tenant UCaaS model provides you with enough control over data, while there are also available some on-site UCaaS systems over there. The only issue is that you will have to pay upfront costs for an on-premises UCaaS system.
3. Integration issues - in modern world, it is impossible to get the most out of your business systems without integrating them with each other - and UCaaS isn’t an exclusion. Some UCaaS systems have open API, but yet, there can be issues in many fields. Look for a reliable UCaaS vendor to avoid these problems and remember that UCaaS systems are evolving continuously.
4. Operational costs - UCaaS systems are provided through a subscription payment model - you pay fix price per user per month, however, some vendors do hide some fees or charges from you. This relates to such situations where, for example, the business VoIP phone lines aren’t included in the price, or there are call duration limitations. Try to find a vendor who don’t use such tricks and provides open pricing policy for its UCaaS system.

What is the difference between UCaaS vs CCaaS?

The most interesting question about UCaaS systems, which we swore to answer. Well, most experts provide the following UCaaS vs CCaaS definition - while CCaaS is designed to perform call center operations only, UCaaS is a more flexible solution that can be used for other business needs. The truth is that there is no border between UCaaS vs CCaaS - these two solutions provide omnichannel support, these two solutions are focused on providing customer-brand communication through different channels, and they share most features - if not all.

The fact is that most vendors have unique vision of what is UCaaS or CCaaS solutions, the only thing that doesn’t change is unified communications capabilities. Thus, when it comes to choosing the UCaaS solution for your business, you should look at each offering separately - compare features, integrations, and pricing. It won’t be something unique if instead of a UCaaS solution you will find more capable CCaaS solution and vice versa - not the name matters, but what’s meant by it.

Conclusion

UC as a service is a new name for omnichannel customer service platforms, which integrate different communication channels and provide collaboration tools for the team to improve customer experience - that’s UCaaS explained in short. UCaaS full form is Unified Communications as a Service, and this means UCaaS is provided as a cloud solution - almost all UCaaS systems are cloud-based unified communications platforms.

The difference between UCaaS vs CCaaS can’t be defined anymore, as there are no limits for vendors - some of them can call the same solutions (in terms of their capabilities) both as UCaaS or CCaaS. Nevertheless, UCaaS are often positioned as more flexible and capable solutions, but it is still more about.

Thus, if you want to purchase a reliable UCaaS solution, you have to look for different offerings and provide deep research - UCaaS systems differ by price and features, so keep an eagle eye on them.